23. THE PRIORY OF THE HOLY TRINITY, IPSWICH
An Ipswich church of the Holy Trinity is
named in Domesday Book; but the foundation
of Austin canons under that dedication was not
established until the time of Henry II. The date
of the first building is 1177. 'Normanius
Gastrode fil. Egnostri' was the first founder,
according to Leland; (fn. 1) at any rate Norman is
shown by the charter of King John to have
been one of the chief benefactors and a canon of
the house. (fn. 2) This charter shows that the priory
held, at the beginning of the thirteenth century,
the Ipswich churches of the Holy Trinity,
St. Laurence, St. Mary-le-Towers, St. Mary-atElms, St. Michael, and St. Saviour, and the
churches of 'Wilangeda,' Henham, Layham,
Foxhall, and Preston, and moieties of the
churches of Tuddenham and Mendham; and
lands in Nacton, Helmingham, Hemingstone,
Bramford, Delf, Coddenham, Tunstall, Tuddenham, &c.
At an early date this monastery is said to have
suffered from fire; it was rebuilt in 1194 by
John de Oxford, bishop of Norwich. He placed
there seven canons under a prior, but as endowments increased, the number was at one time
raised to twenty. Richard I gave the patronage of the house at the time of its re-opening into
the hands of the bishop. (fn. 3)
The Taxation Roll of the temporalities of this
priory in 1291 shows that its lands and rents,
which were chiefly in the town and immediate
neighbourhood of Ipswich, produced an annual
income of £47 14s. 9d. The spiritualities
reached the much larger annual value of
£88 14s. 4d. It would appear from this
return that the canons then held the rectories of
St. Laurence, St. Margaret, St. Mary-at-Tower,
and St. Mary-at-Elms, Ipswich, and the country
churches of Tuddenham, Foxhall, Rushmere,
Bentley, Caldwell, and Preston, together with
considerable proportions of three other rectories. (fn. 4)
But possibly there was some error in these
entries, as it seems scarcely likely that the
priory would have lost so many appropriations
between this date and the time of Henry VIII,
when the Valor of 1535 gave the clear value of
the temporalities of the house as £69 14s. 8d.,
but showed the spiritualities reduced to the
rectories of Mendham, Rushmere, St. Laurence's
Norwich, and Tuddenham, with a portion in
Morning Thorpe, of the clear value of
£18 12s. 1d. Thus the total net income was
assessed at £82 6s. 9d. (fn. 5)
The prior and convent of the Holy Trinity
obtained licence, in 1327, to acquire in mortmain lands or rents to the yearly value of £10.
In 1335 a variety of small plots of land and rents
were alienated to the canons at Preston, Rushmere, Bentley, and in Ipswich and the suburbs,
to the annual value of 16s. 2d. under cover of
the 1327 licence. (fn. 6) On payment of £20 the
priory obtained leave in 1392 to accept the
alienation to them, by Roger de Wolferston and
others, of land and meadow in Ipswich and
Rushmere; to find five tapers to burn daily at
the Lady mass in the conventual church, and one
lamp to burn continually day and night in the
Lady chapel. (fn. 7)
In 1393 the royal pardon was granted to John
Bendel, a canon of this house, for causing the
death of Godfrey Neketon, cook. (fn. 8)
Trinity priory was visited by Archdeacon
Goldwell, as commissary of his brother the bishop,
on 22 January, 1493, when Prior Richard and
six canons were present. Nothing was found
worthy of reformation. (fn. 9) The next recorded
visitation was held by Bishop Nykke in August,
1514, when eight canons were examined.
Almost the only complaint, against which the
bishop directed an injunction, was the insolence
of some of the servants. The words that two
of the servants addressed to certain of the canons
are set forth in English: 'Yf soo be that ye
medyll with me I shall gyff the such a strippe
that thou shallt not recover yt a twelvemonyth
after.' (fn. 10)
At the visitation held by Bishop Nykke in
June, 1526, Prior Thomas Whighte complained
of the disobedience of John Carver, but otherwise all was good. Of the four canons examined,
two testified omnia bene; but Thomas Edgore
said that the prior did not render annual accounts,
and John Shribbs complained that daily chapters
were not held, and there was no correction of
excess in the chapter. The latter also stated
that the canons confessed to whom they liked,
and that they went out of the priory precincts
without asking leave of the prior. The bishop's
injunction ordered Carver to be obedient to the
prior under pain of imprisonment, the holding
of a chapter according to rule, the making of an
annual account before two of the canons, the
appointment of a confessor, the better observance
of silence, and the non-departure of the brothers
from the precincts save by leave of the superior. (fn. 11)
The last visitation was in June 1532, when five
canons were examined besides Prior Whighte. It
was complained that the food and cooking were
bad, the cook dirty, and no annual account
rendered. The bishop issued injunctions as to
each of these defects. (fn. 12)
The priory fell with the lesser monasteries
which were condemned in 1536. On 24 August
of that year the commissioners drew up an inventory of its goods and chattels. The conventual church, which was popular with the
townsfolk of Ipswich, was well furnished. The
plate included two cruets, a censer with ship,
three chalices, and a cross, all of silver-gilt or
parcel-gilt; the cross was valued at £5. In the
quire were; a great and a lesser pair of standards of
latten, 'a deske of latten to rede the Gospell at,'
and a pair of organs. There were another pair of
organs and a small pair of latten standards in the
Lady chapel. The supply of vestments in the
vestry was ample. In the pantry there was a
salt, two standing cups, 'a lytell cruse,' and six
spoons all of silver. The furniture of the hall,
parlour, and chambers was simple and of little
value. The cattle and corn, which were jointly
valued at £42 8s. 8d., declared at £86 5s. (fn. 13)
The actual suppression of the house took place
on 9 February, 1536-7. (fn. 14) On 20 February
John Thetford (alias Colyn), the last prior, was
assigned a pension of £15. (fn. 15) The site and lands
were shortly afterwards granted to Sir Humphrey
Wingfield and Sir Thomas Rushe. (fn. 16)
Priors (fn. 17) of Holy Trinity, Ipswich
Alan, (fn. 18) occurs 1180
William, (fn. 19) occurs 1239
William de Colneys, (fn. 20) occurs 1248
Nicholas de Ipswich (fn. 21)
William de Secheford (fn. 22)
John de St. Nicholas (fn. 23)
John de Kentford, (fn. 24) 1324
Thomas de Thornham, (fn. 25) 1383
John Pyke, (fn. 26) 1390
John Gylmyn, (fn. 27) 1411
John Mauncer, (fn. 28) 1417
John Pyke, (fn. 29) 1424
Thomas Hadley, (fn. 30) died 1437
John Bestman, (fn. 31) 1437
Thomas Gundolf, (fn. 32) 1470
Richard Forth, (fn. 33) 1479
Robert, (fn. 34) occurs 1513
Thomas Whighte, (fn. 35) occurs 1526
John Thetford (fn. 36) (alias Colyn), occurs 1535
The priory of Holy Trinity was sometimes
known as Christ Church; it bore this name as
early as the days of Richard II. (fn. 37) A circular seal
of this house shows Our Lord seated, with
crucifix nimbus, right hand raised in blessing,
left hand resting on a book. The seven candlesticks are shown, four on one side and three on
the other. The whole is enclosed in a quatrefoil, outside which are the Evangelistic symbols.
Legend:—
SIGILL: CUMMUNE: SCA: XPI
GIPEWICENSIS (fn. 38)